Nehemiah 13:23-29
New American Standard Bible
Mixed Marriages Forbidden
23 In those days I also saw that the Jews had [a](A)married women from (B)Ashdod, (C)Ammon, and Moab. 24 As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them knew how to speak the language of Judah, but [b]only the language of his own people. 25 So (D)I quarreled with them and cursed them, and (E)struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and (F)made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take any of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. 26 (G)Did Solomon the king of Israel not sin regarding these things? (H)Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and (I)he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; yet the foreign women caused even him to sin. 27 Has it not then been reported about you that you have committed all this great evil (J)by acting unfaithfully against our God, by [c]marrying foreign women?” 28 Even one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, became a son-in-law of (K)Sanballat the Horonite, so I chased him away from me. 29 (L)Remember them, my God, [d]because they have defiled the priesthood and the (M)covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Nehemiah 13:23 Lit given dwelling to
- Nehemiah 13:24 Lit according to the tongue of people and people
- Nehemiah 13:27 Lit giving dwelling to
- Nehemiah 13:29 Lit for the defilements of
Nehemiah 13:23-29
New Living Translation
23 About the same time I realized that some of the men of Judah had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 Furthermore, half their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of some other people and could not speak the language of Judah at all. 25 So I confronted them and called down curses on them. I beat some of them and pulled out their hair. I made them swear in the name of God that they would not let their children intermarry with the pagan people of the land.
26 “Wasn’t this exactly what led King Solomon of Israel into sin?” I demanded. “There was no king from any nation who could compare to him, and God loved him and made him king over all Israel. But even he was led into sin by his foreign wives. 27 How could you even think of committing this sinful deed and acting unfaithfully toward God by marrying foreign women?”
28 One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest had married a daughter of Sanballat the Horonite, so I banished him from my presence.
29 Remember them, O my God, for they have defiled the priesthood and the solemn vows of the priests and Levites.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
